Computer Arts - UK (2019-08)

COMPUTERARTS.CREATIVEBLOQ.COM

T

om Sharp and Katherina Tudball

met at a design event a few years

ago, and have since worked on

two poetry projects together. Their most

recent, Naomi’s Poem, is an epistolary

poem to Sharp’s sister, exploring his

reactions to her “cliff-edge health news”

over 12 sections. It’s surgically stitched

together, printed on Bible paper and

bound within French folds, forcing the

reader to rip it open to read the words.

For both their collaborations, Sharp,

a writer and creative director of new

studio The Poetry of It All, provides the

poetry, and Tudball, creative director at

Superunion, creates the design, although

there’s plenty of creative crossover. We

discover how they worked together on

such a personal piece.

Tell us about your collaborative process

To m S h a r p : We approach the process as

creative directors first, with our respective

crafts of writing and design second. So

we’re both comfortable talking about

meaning and aesthetics. We look at the

piece in its entirety before discussing the

execution. Katherina has helped shape the

language and I have influenced the design.

Katherina Tudball: It all comes from

conversation, exploring ideas and

meaning together. With poetry, the

words must be allowed to lead. I hate the

notion of decorating writing; sometimes

designers can regard words as typographic

GET MORE PERSONAL

CreativedirectorsTomSharpandKatherinaTudball

revealwhycollaborationislikeaconversation

SPECIAL REPORT

“You have to let

go of ego a bit,

and feel okay

about leaving

your comfort zone’’

TOMSHARP

CREATIVEDIRECTORWRITERTHEPOETRYOFITALL

Tom is a creative director, commercial writer

and poet. He was previously the founder and

creative director of The Beautiful Meme, and has

now established The Poetry Of It All, an agency

developing brand and advertising projects with poetic

writing and design at their heart.

KATHERINATUDBALL

CREATIVEDIRECTORSUPERUNION

Katherina is a creative director with over 15 years’

experience. She now leads a creative team at

Superunion, and her projects for clients such as

Shakespeare’s Globe, The Science Museum and Royal

Mail have won multiple awards. She’s also a respected

speaker on the creative conference circuit.

Tom Sharp and Katherina

Tudball have worked on two

poetry projects together.